Words
by soda-denial
Summary: Sasuke/Naruto. After Sasuke saves Naruto from himself, they meet a new, and old, face at Ichiraku Ramen.
1. Depressed, or attention seeking?

**Disclaimer** : Nothing . . . I OWN NOTHING -starts sobbing-

**Characters** : Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura,

**Warnings** : Male/Male, Naruto being unhappy.

* * *

**Words**

**S**asuke panted as he ran after Naruto.

Sakura had said the one thing Naruto never wanted to hear from her. Sasuke didn't understand what Naruto had even said to her, but it didn't end well. It started out as such a normal day . . .

_Sasuke was standing at the bridge, waiting for his sensei and his blond teammate. The pink haired one was already there, harassing him._

_"Go away, Sakura," he told her, coldly. Sakura hung her head and slowly walked over to a tree and moped. That's when Naruto showed up._

_" 'Morning Sakura-chan! 'Morning Sasuke-teme!" Naruto said, waving at them. Sasuke was glad that Naruto had started saying hi to him as well as Sakura; he didn't even mind the insult attached to it._

_Secretly, Sasuke had been harboring a crush on his cute teammate. He almost liked the annoying "pet name" Naruto had so gracefully given him._

_Anyways, Naruto went up to Sakura, blushing, and began to talk to her. The only part of the conversation Sasuke managed to overhear were the words "Sakura-chan, I need your advice" coming from Naruto's mouth._

_Sasuke sighed._

_A minute later, Sakura began to scream at Naruto. Sasuke rolled his eyes; Sakura yelling at Naruto was nothing new. Sasuke was quickly worried when Naruto began to yell back in his defense._

_"It's not my fault! I can't help it!" Naruto yelled in the pink haired girl's face. Sakura scowled at him._

_"Naruto, the world would be far better off if you were dead!" she yelled. The instant she said it, Naruto's eyes grew wide. Sakura gasped. "I-I didn't . . . mean . . ."_

_Naruto spun himself around and sped away. He raced past Sasuke, and when he did, Sasuke felt little droplets of water sprinkle onto his face. He wiped it off and realized it was actually Naruto's tears. Sasuke blinked, then tried to see which way the fox went._

_"I didn't mean to say it . . ." Sakura mumbled._

_Sasuke scowled, then started after Naruto. He panted as he ran after Naruto, hoping to catch the boy before he did something stupid._

After ten minutes of running, Sasuke stopped for a small break. He continued panting as he wondered where the kitsune could be. That's when Sasuke remembered a place that Naruto showed him a few years back, when they were kids.

Sasuke immediately turned and headed to that spot. As soon as he got htere, he saw Naruto sitting there, playing with a kunai in his hands. Naruto glanced over at Sasuke with hollow eyes, deprived from emotion.

"Should I end it all now? Naruto asked, "Or should I let the villagers do it?"

Sasuke shook his head, knowing how delicate this situation was. He slowly, and, not to mention, cautiously, walked over to Naruto. "Don't . . ." he said, rather gently. Naruto's eyes became a bit sharper.

"Teme . . . Do you think the world would be better without me?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke shook his head. "No . . . Dobe, I think that you fit perfectly with the world. You're the number one next choice for Hokage. You could finally achieve your goal. Don't you think that's worth living for?" Sasuke said, in a soft and calm voice.

"There's no point in me being Hokage if no one likes me. I doubt that I'd get respect even if I was Hokage," Naruto muttered.

Sasuke scowled at him. "Dammit, Dobe! Have you not noticed? You have way more friends than you think! Everyone we grew up with absolutely adores you for one reason or another! Aren't the people you love and care about worth living for?!"

Naruto winced at the ferocity of Sasuke's voice. The raven's tone softened again.

"Aren't I worth living for?" he asked, quietly. Naruto's eyes widened at Sasuke's choice of words.

Before Naruto could respond, Sasuke had jumped over to him and smacked the kunai out of his hands. "Dobe, you personally came to get me from Orochimaru. Why would you go through all that trouble if you didn't want to see me again?" Sasuke asked as he picked up the kunai.

Naruto casually shrugged. "Sasuke-teme . . . Why do you care so much about what I do?"

Sasuke glanced over at the blond, and shrugged, knowing it wasn't the right time to tell Naruto about his little crush. "I'm in your debt," he replied.

Naruto looked down. "Oh," he said, flatly.

Sasuke saw Naruto's crestfallen face and smirked a little. "And maybe I care about you . . . a little," he said, quietly, hoping Naruto would hear him.

Luckily, Naruto did. His face finally cracked into a small smile. "Thank you," he whispered as Sasuke hoisted him up from his sitting position.

At that moment, Sasuke showed him something that could be called a smile. Naruto noticed this and couldn't stop grinning.

"Sasuke-teme, after training today, you're gonna buy me ramen, right?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, but gave Naruto a slight nod.

"Sure, whatever, Dobe."

Naruto frowned and puffed out his cheeks, exactly like he did when he was twelve. "Don't call me that!" he exclaimed.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, happy Naruto was back to normal. "Dobe . . ."

* * *

In the following chapters, Naruto is "as happy as a cat on crack."  
D:

-Taryn


	2. Whom might you be?

Naruto and Sasuke walked back to the bridge, and noticed that, for once, Kakashi wasn't three hours late. Kakashi chuckled when he saw Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto frowned when he heard this.

"And why are you chuckling now?" Naruto asked, suspiciously.

"Oh, Naruto, do I need a reason to be happy?" he asked, grinning.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Tch . . . it was probably something perverted, as usual," he said, only loud enough for Naruto to hear.

"Keheheh . . . yeah."

That's when they both noticed Sakura come out from behind Kakashi's back. She had a tear-stained face and puffy pink eyes. Sakura was sniffling.

"Naruto, I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I was just . . . jealous . . . You have a much better chance than I do . . ." she mumbled. Sakura looked down, a fresh wave of tears flowing out of her eyes.

Naruto smiled, and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Sakura-chan! I just wanna know if you like me still . . ." Naruto's voice trailed off on a hopeful tone.

Sakura looked up at him, and smiled. Naruto wiped the tears off her face. Her smile got bigger and she flung her arms around him. Naruto was thrown off balance by the impact and fell onto Sasuke, who, in turn, fell onto his butt.

"Naruto! Of course I like you!" Sakura said, after a minute. Naruto grinned. Sakura stood up, then helped the blond up. He, in turn, helped Sasuke up.

Sasuke couldn't help but notice something about Naruto's grin. It looked different from the one he showed after Sasuke smiled at him. It was bigger . . . maybe more exaggerated.

Sasuke's stoic expression went sour at this realization. Naruto looked at him with a confused expression. Sasuke shook his head and turned to look at Kakashi, because he felt eyes watching him.

Kakashi wore a very familiar expression; one that said that he would be doing a great deal of meddling in the near future. Sasuke groaned.

"So, sensei, do we have any missions today?" Sakura asked. Kakashi shook his head.

"Nope, just sparring! Oh, and Sakura? You're supposed to meet Tsunade about . . . ten minutes ago!" Kakashi said, opening the latest volume of his manga.

He must have sensed Sakura's 'I'm-gonna-kill-you' aura emanating from around her, because he chose that moment to leave. A second later, everyone across Konoha could hear Sakura yell out, "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, KAKASHI!!!"

Sakura ran off to find Tsunade, leaving Sasuke and Naruto alone. Naruto looked over at Sasuke. Before he could say anything, Sasuke started talking.

"Dobe, your grin back there was . . . brighter than the one you gave Sakura," Sasuke commented, hoping Naruto would explain.

Naruto sighed. "Sasuke-teme, I just didn't want to cause anymore problems with her. I don't want to be part of a burden."

Sasuke scowled and threw a punch at Naruto; it was easily dodged. "Dobe! You're not a burden! Get it through your head!" Sasuke yelled.

Naruto aimed a kick at Sasuke's head. The dark haired boy ducked and swiped his leg underneath Naruto's, in an attempt to trip him. Naruto jumped over Sasuke's leg and tried to head-butt him. Sasuke dodged to the right and dove after the Kyuubi boy.

They continued their sparring for many hours. Actually, you couldn't call what they were doing sparring anymore. It was more like a very physical dance.

Naruto and Sasuke had done the same routine since they established it, back when they were both thirteen. Each of them knew exactly what the other was going to do and neither of them dared to break the rhythm or use a different way of attacking or defending. It could mean a serious injury for one of them.

The only time they fought for real was when Naruto was fighting to bring Sasuke back from Orochimaru. Even then, after a while, they somehow managed to fall back into their old rhythm.

Naruto wiped his lip as he stood there, panting. "Hey, Teme? I think we should make a new routine," Naruto said, hopefully. Sasuke frowned and Naruto answered the question before Sasuke asked it. "Don't call me that, and we should change it because I always end up losing!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but every time you lose, I manage to get roped into buying you ramen. So, c'mon, Dobe. Let's go," he said. Naruto's eyes lit up.

"Never mind! I like this routine!" he exclaimed, tugging on Sasuke's arm.

Sasuke rolled his eyes again and allowed himself to be dragged to Ichiraku Ramen by the Kyuubi container.

They got there and Naruto demanded that this one guy moved. "Hey, mister, you're sitting in my spot," Naruto said, rudely. "Get off."

The man looked up and Sasuke was taken aback by the man's eyes. They were exactly like Naruto's. In fact, everything about him looked like Naruto. He actually looked just like . . .

"Yondaime . . ."

* * *

And that's the end of chapter 2. Do you like it? I seem to make it where Naruto gets over stuff pretty quickly...  
Heh.

-Taryn


	3. They found his wallet?

_The man looked up and Sasuke was taken aback by the man's eyes. They were exactly like Naruto's. In fact, everything about him looked like Naruto. He actually looked just like . . .  
_

_"Yondaime . . ."_

When Naruto uttered that single word, Sasuke's brain froze. Naruto stared into the man's eyes, searching for anything that would possibly say that he wasn't the forth Hokage. The man's eyes widened when he realized that he was being 'rude.'

"I'm sorry, you can have your seat," he said before putting money on the counter and leaving the small stand.

Naruto looked at Sasuke. "Was that . . .?" Sasuke blinked then shrugged.

"I really think it was . . ."

Naruto frowned in confusion. "But I thought that he died . . . sealing the Kyuubi within me." That's what Sasuke thought too. Obviously, they had some investigating to do.

"C'mon, Dobe," Sasuke muttered, as he tugged on the arm of his companion.

Naruto frowned once more. "Sasuke-teme, we can't just go after him! They didn't call him the Yellow Flash for nothing!" Naruto pointed out. Sasuke blinked and took his hand off Naruto's arm.

"Right . . ." he said, thoughtfully. Then he looked at Naruto. "That guy had your eyes."

Naruto blinked. "And that means . . .?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and groaned. "Moron, that means, I think he's related to you."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Are you kidding?!" Naruto asked, loudly. Sasuke shook his head. Naruto sat down in the fateful seat, stared straight ahead, and tried to figure out a plan. He glanced up at Sasuke.

The pale boy noticed a look on Naruto's face that he had only seen once before. Back when Naruto brought Sasuke back from Orochimaru's . . .

_Sasuke was released from the hospital and he had a whole party of people waiting to see him. Sasuke saw Naruto at the back of the crowd, surprisingly not wearing his regular __Cheshire__ grin. Sasuke walked up to him._

_Naruto had tried his hardest to say "Took you long enough to heal," but couldn't do it. All Naruto could do was bite his lip in order to keep from bursting into tears. That's when Naruto gave Sasuke that look; the one that said "hug me."_

_Sasuke thought that his friend deserved that at the least. Sasuke put his arms around the younger boy. Naruto couldn't take it anymore and he started sobbing, immediately flinging his arms around Sasuke._

_Naruto lost control of his legs and they slumped to the ground. Naruto cried into Sasuke's should for a half an hour, and neither of them moved a muscle._

When Sasuke saw that look on his friend's face again, he really didn't know what to do. Naruto wiped the expression off his face before Sasuke could make a decision. Sasuke was quite glad about that, because he wasn't in the mood for hugging, even if it was with Naruto.

"So are we having ramen or not?" Naruto asked. Sasuke smirked and sat down beside the blond idiot.

"Cute . . . idiot," Sasuke said as Naruto ordered for the both of them. Naruto looked over at him.

"Did you say something, Teme?" he asked, an innocent expression on his face. Sasuke's smirk grew at this small look.

"Nope, nothing," he replied. Naruto frowned, thinking Sasuke was hiding something from him. His frown was quickly washed away by the bowl of ramen that was placed down in front of him.

"Ramen!" Naruto exclaimed, happily. He instantly began to slurp up the noodles. Sasuke sighed and slowly began to eat his ramen, pondering about what they should do about the Yondaime's sudden appearance. That's when Naruto spoke up again.

"Hey, Sasuke-teme, we should tell Kakashi-sensei. I mean the forth was his teacher, he deserves to know," Naruto said thoughtfully. Sasuke stared at Naruto, a strange look on his face.

Sasuke sighed. "Dobe, he wouldn't believe us. He'd think we were pulling some kind of a prank, trying to get his mask off of him or something," Sasuke told the blond, rationally.

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed, picking something up off of the floor. "It's a wallet!" he said, excitedly. Naruto opened it and found a huge crapload of money . . . and an ID card. "Oh, man, if there was no ID we could've kept it . . ." Naruto mumbled, disappointed.

Sasuke sighed once more and took the wallet out of the tan boy's hands. He took the ID card out and stared at it for a moment. He tried his best to remain calmer than normal. "That was the Hokage, all right," Sasuke said, handing Naruto the card.

Naruto stared at it, then read every little detail. "Hey, Sasuke? On this it says he had a son, but I've never heard about that," Naruto commented.

Sasuke was thoughtful for a minute. "Maybe we should go find him," Sasuke suggested. Naruto nodded, too intrigued to take another bite of his ramen.

Sasuke paid for both their meals. As they turned to leave, someone bumped into them. The three nins all fell over, quite un-ninja like. Well, actually, they fell much like Naruto would.

Naruto and Sasuke glanced at the face of the other person and was shocked to see who it was. A gasp was emitted from both the raven and the fox.

* * *

All the chapters are this short.  
D:

I gave up watching CSI to type this out. You'd better love me.  
(I'm such a slow typer . . . ;-;)

-Taryn


	4. Daddy?

Note : I named Yondaime, uh, **Yondaime**.  


* * *

The man stared at them, and Naruto and Sasuke stared back. "Excuse me," Naruto started, "are you . . . erm . . . were you the fourth Hokage?" he asked. The man blinked, then noticed the ID in Naruto's hand. He now knew there was no possible way for him to lie.

The man sighed. "Naruto . . ." he said, pulling a his hood over his head to hide his face as an elderly woman gave him a strange look. Naruto frowned and waited for an answer. "Yes."

Naruto's eyes widened, while Sasuke frowned. The man stood up and offered a hand to both of the Chunin. Naruto accepted the help, yet Sasuke chose to stand up himself. Yondaime gave him a funny look, but didn't say a word.

That's when Naruto realized something. "Hey . . . How do you know my name?"

Yondaime sighed. "No one tells you anything, do they?" he asked, under his breath. Yondaime smiled and looked at the raven named Sasuke. "Uchiha, you're smart. Please explain why I know Naruto's name!"

Sasuke smirked, in a superior way. "You're obviously related to the Dobe," he said in a rather smug tone. Naruto began to growl.

"Don't call me that Sasuke-teme!" he wailed.

"Sasuke?!" Yondaime said, surprised. Both Sasuke and Naruto looked at the man. "You're Sasuke?" Sasuke nodded, wondering where this was all going. "So you're the boy who!"

Naruto looked at Sasuke and blinked. Yondaime decided to take a moment and elaborate on his exclaimation. "Before Naruto was born, your dad came to me and introduced you. He hoped that you two would become friends. He looked really proud of you," Yondaime said. "It looks like he got his wish," Yondaime added, refering to the fact that Naruto and Sasuke were, in fact, friends. Yondaime smiled. "Naruto come with me. Sasuke, you too."

Yondaime began to walk away. Naruto quickly ran after him, while Sasuke hung back. He had began to think that this was a trap. That's when Naruto ran back. "C'mon Sasuke! We get to hang out with the fourth Hokage!"

Sasuke suddenly knew that it couldn't possibly be a trap. How would anyone know that Naruto's 'other' dream was to spend time with the Yondaime, when Naruto had only told Sasuke of this fact? Yeah, that's right. Not even Iruka knew about this. Sasuke smirked once more and allowed himself to be dragged somewhere by the blond shinobi.

The Yondaime stopped at one particualr room, in the same apartment building as Naruto. In fact, it was right across the hall from Naruto's room. He unlocked the door and entered. Naruto and Sasuke cautiously followed. Yondaime sat down on a couch and turned on a lamp that sat beside the couch.

Naruto plopped himself down right beside the fourth. "So you're really Yondaime?" he asked. Yondaime sighed.

"Yes, Naruto."

"Dobe, ask him better questions, like how the hell he's still alive!" Sasuke ordered. Naruto glared at him.

"Teme, it doesn't matter how he's alive, it's just so great that he is!" Naruto turned to the older blond. "Can you teach me all your secret jutsus?!" he yell-asked.

Yondaime chuckled. "Maybe," he replied, making no promises. "Anyways, I'm betting you'd like to know how I'm related to you," Yondaime said.

Naruto's eyebrow's shot up. "So Sasuke was right!" Yondaime nodded.

"Naruto . . . this may sound a bit strange, yet . . . I'm your . . . father . . ."

Naruto's face went from excited, to shocked, to super excited. "ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" he yelled.

"Yes."

Sasuke's back hit the wall as he stared at the two blonds infront of him. Yondaime gave Naruto a small smile. Naruto's lip began to waver, and he flung his arms around the man who called himself Naruto's father. It was exactly four seconds before Naruto started crying.

Yondaime just sat there, hugging his precious son. Sasuke sighed and looked away. He felt like he was somehow intruding on a very sentimental moment. Not that he cared, of course. Naruto was quickly aware of Sasuke's distant behavior and dried up his tears in an instant.

Naruto hopped off the couch and walked over to Sasuke. "This is my rival, my best friend, and my overall favorite person, Sasuke Uchiha!" Naruto exclaimed, introducing Sasuke once more. Yondaime smiled and stuck out one hand.

"Pleased to meet you again, Sasuke," he said, while shaking the boy's hand.

"Again?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke and Yondaime exchanged looks. Yondaime began to explain what he had said before, because, apparently Naruto hadn't heard a word of it. By the end of the story, Naruto was grinning.

"Sasuke's dad and mom may have wanted us to be friends, but Sasuke sure didn't! I had to do so much to prove that I'm worth his friendship!" Naruto clung to Sasuke. "But . . . it was worth it."

Sasuke blushed and attempted to push Naruto off, but failed. The fourth Hokage noted Sasuke's change in facial color. Naruto finally let go.

"You boys should probably head home and get some sleep," Yondaime said.

Naruto gave him a worried look. "Do you promise to still be here in the morning?"

Yondaime smiled. "Yes. Goodnight Naruto. Goodnight Sasuke," he said.

Both Naruto's and Sasuke's eyes widened at those simple words. Yondaime said them with a great level of sincerity and love. Both boys hadn't heard anyone say goodnight like that in a very long while. Actually, Naruto was unsure if he had ever heard someone say anything that lovingly to him before. They thanked him and went back to Naruto's place, where Sasuke decided to spend the night.

* * *

PHEW!

I hate typing right now.  
I just felt like I owed anyone reading this story an update.

So, uh, this is unedited.  
I don't feel like editing this.  
Get over it. (No spell/grammer check even)

-Taryn

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	5. Is this Sparta?

Sasuke yawned. He didn't know why he even bothered to show up when he was supposed to for training; Kakashi was always late.

Normally, Sasuke would show up an hour later than he was expected to, but today, Naruto forced him to in on time.

Sasuke had spent the night at Naruto's house, to . . . well . . . he just didn't want to go home. The first thing that Naruto did go the morning was race to the door, and run across the hall to Yondaime's room.

After they all had been fed, courtesy of Yondaime, Naruto begged him to walk them to training. Naruto had used his super-cute face, and no one, I repeat no one, could resist that.

Yondaime chuckled and agreed. Then, off they headed, which brings us back to Sasuke yawning.

They arrived at the meeting point and were extremely surprised when they saw both Sakura and Kakashi standing there, waiting. Naruto noticed that Yondaime's eyebrows rose when he saw Kakashi.

"You didn't tell me that your sensei was Kakashi," Yondaime said. Naruto shrugged.

Kakashi looked up from his book and made eye contact with the ex-Hokage. He blinked a couple times.

"Hiya, Kakashi," Hokage-sama said casually. Kakashi chuckled.

"You've really gotten good at disguising yourself, Naruto. Then making a clone stand beside you..." Kakashi said, not believing Yondaime.

Naruto looked over at Sasuke and Sasuke have him a 'told-you-so' look. Naruto stuck his tongue out at the older boy. Sasuke just smirked.  
They looked back at Yondaime and Kakashi. It was sort of a weird thing to see. Kakashi totally didn't believe it was actually him and Yondaime was completely exasperated.

"Look, Kakashi, it's me!" he exclaimed. Kakashi raised his eyebrow, but didn't say anything. That's when Sakura finally spoke up.  
"Excuse me, if you're really who you say you are, then how in the world are you going to prove it?" she asked.

Yondaime smiled at her. "Kakashi did something really funny when he was about twelve. It involved a really big dog, a girl named Rin, and Rin's favorite stuffed animal. First he--" Yondaime's voice got cut off by Kakashi's.

"Yondaime, it is you!" he said, smiling. All of them sweat-dropped. Yondaime chuckled and showed no intention of considering finishing the story.

"I wanna hear the end of the story!" Naruto and Sakura exclaimed at the same time. Yondaime smiled, but ignored them.

"So, Kakashi, how have you been?" Yondaime asked. Kakashi shrugged. "Do you want the day off? I'll train them if you'd like," Yondaime suggested.

"Yeah, that'd be great," Kakashi replied. Sakura was visibly excited, Naruto's eyes sparkled, and even Sasuke looked excited when they realized that they would be training with a former Hokage.

Yondaime turned to them and grinned. "Let the training begin," he said cheerfully.

Naruto punched the air. "Yeah! Believe it!" Sasuke smiled to himself. It only took one person to revert Naruto back to his twelve year old self. Sasuke couldn't help but smile.

Yondaime started heading towards a field nearby, followed quickly by Naruto. Sakura raced to catch up with them, while Sasuke hung back for a minute. Sasuke realized how confusing all this was becoming. He shrugged it off and began to walk after them.

When he got to the field, Naruto grabbed his arm and dragged him away. "C'mon we gotta hide!" he exclaimed, pulling Sasuke into the bushes. Sasuke sighed as Naruto tugged him into a crouching position.

"Did you guys really think if you hid together, you'd be well hidden?" came the now well-known voice of the forth Hokage. Naruto spun around and laughed nervously.

"Umm . . . Why are we hiding again?" he asked, as Sasuke helped him stand up.

Yondaime stood up as well. "Because concealing yourself is very important," he said.

"But isn't combat just as important?" Sasuke pointed out.

Yondaime smiled. "Yes that is correct, but your whole team is exceptionally good at combat, so I figured that this exercise will improve you guys even more," Yondaime replied.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Alright . . ." hey mumbled.

They played Yondaime's game for the whole day, and, in the end, the forth could only find Naruto. But who could miss that orange outfit?

"You all improved at concealment of yourselves today. I'm proud of all of you," Yondaime said, leaning against a tree.

"Next time, let's learn some cool jutsus!" Naruto exclaimed. Yondaime chuckled but said nothing.

"Can we go now?" Sakura asked. Yondaime nodded and she ran off to find Tsunade.

"Well, I'd better be off as well," Yondaime said, poofing away much like Kakashi.

At this, Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arm and dragged him to Ichiraku Ramen.

* * *

I realize I am an awkward person.

:D  
-Taryn


End file.
